Because of data leakage: Numerous Mastercard customers receive 300 euros in compensation

Created: 01/14/2023 10:09 am

By: Linus Prien

The Mastercard logo is displayed on a smartphone (icon image).

© IMAGO/Nikolas Kokovlis

90,000 Mastercard customers had the moment of shock.

Her card number and other information about her has been made public.

But now comes the happy ending for some.

Stuttgart - It's probably a nightmare for many people: In 2019 there was a data leak that revealed the credit card number and personal information, such as address or telephone number, of around 90,000 Mastercard customers.

But for some of those affected, there is now a happy ending to the cause.

As

reports, some of those affected are likely to receive an email with the subject “Comparative offer – Mastercard Priceless Specials data leak”.

This e-mail contains an offer of 300 euros from the company, which those affected will receive as long as they do not take further legal action against Mastercard on this issue.

Data leak at Mastercard: bonus program ends disastrously for customers

However, Mastercard users can also rest easy to a certain extent.

The data was not stolen and published out of nowhere from normal payment transactions.

Instead, they could be stolen as part of a bonus program.

This was a commercial model where customers could collect points (“coins”) for paying for purchases with their card.

The business has probably not paid off for many.

But some of the 90,000 can look forward to 300 at the beginning of May this year.

All of the 90,000 customers were also offered a card exchange free of charge.

Data leak at Mastercard: Customer wanted 5,000 euros in compensation

Merely exchanging the card was not enough for some Mastercard users at the time.

For this reason, the European Society for Data Protection (EuGD) was hired to take legal action in the interests of Mastercard customers.

According to the

, however, the district court and the higher regional court in Stuttgart agreed with Mastercard.

The reason for this was that Mastercard had always treated the relevant data in accordance with the data protection standards of the credit card industry.

The error, in turn, would have been with the order service provider who worked with the bonus program.

Mastercard data leak: Approximately 2000 customers are compensated

However, it should not stop there.

From the point of view of the EuGD, the next step was the Federal Court of Justice.

But it never came before them because the two parties had agreed beforehand.

All those affected defended by the EuGD, according to the

it is about 2000 of the 90,000, are entitled to the 300 euros.

You can agree, you can no longer agree to the comparison, writes

.

However, you do not have to accept the offer.

If there were those affected who wanted to take further legal steps, there would not be much time left, as the claims would become statute-barred.